Product Recall

22/04/2009   E.U. product recalls increase 16% in 2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium—The number of consumer product recalls in the European Union in 2008 totaled 1,866, a 16% increase from the previous year, according to statistics from the European Commission.

There were 498 notifications to the E.U. RAPEX system of product recalls of toys during 2008, the commission said, 169 notifications of recalls of electrical appliances and 160 notifications of withdrawals of motor vehicles. Other categories included clothing and textiles, lighters, stationery and more.

The RAPEX system is the E.U.'s rapid alert system for dangerous nonfood products.

All E.U. member states took part in the RAPEX system last year, the commission said, with Germany making the most notifications—205—followed by Spain with 163 notifications, Slovakia with 140 notifications, Greece with 132 notifications and Hungary with 129 notifications

More than half—59%—of the notifications for products posing a serious risk in 2008 were for products of Chinese origin, up from 52% of notifications in 2007.

"This report sends a very clear message that there is no room for complacency when it comes to safety," said Meglena Kuneva, the European Consumer Commissioner in Brussels, Belgium. "The biggest challenge for 2009 is to make sure that product safety is not set aside during this period of economic crisis, that business continues to respect its duty towards consumers and that member states allocate sufficient resources to enforcement," she said.